Laina Turner - Presley Thurman 01 - Stilettos & Scoundrels Read online

  “That’s okay. I think I got plenty.” Oh, boy, did I. I had been apprehensive at first about this interview since it was a bit out of my normal realm of expertise, but I had been surprised to find that I actually enjoyed it. I felt excited about getting as much information as I could to share with my new readers. I just hoped Trevor liked what I wrote too.

  “You will write a flattering article, won’t you? The Senator has done many great things. If you need more information, I am sure I can help,” Tobey said, trying to get a gauge on what I would write. Tobey was good at managing the PR, trying to fish around and make sure I was not, at least outwardly, upset with the Senator.

  “I promise I will be very objective,” I assured Tobey, standing up to leave. “Although, I do have a question maybe you could answer. I overheard the Senator arguing with someone on the phone. I think he said his name was Peter, but he didn’t mention anyone named Peter when we were talking. Who could that have been?”

  Tobey looked at me with surprise and trepidation. I thought that was taken care of…, he thought to himself. Damn it, Tom must be at it again.

  “I’m sure it was no one. There are many people who may not like what the Senator has to say, and I can hardly keep track of them all. Now, if you don’t mind, I really have to go. Can you see yourself out?” As Tobey started to walk off, I remembered seeing him and Helen arguing last night and didn’t want to lose my chance to find out why. I figured he was already annoyed with me. What was a little more?

  “One more thing, Tobey,” I said. He stopped and turned around, looking at me expectantly. “What were you arguing with Helen Daniels about at the Coffee Café last night?” Tobey was surprised and his expression showed it. He didn’t remember seeing me there and had hoped no one had noticed them. This is all he needed. He really needed to get a less stressful job.

  “Nothing important, now I’ve got to run. Call me if you need anything else,” he said over his shoulder, obviously wanting to get away from me as fast as possible before I asked any more questions. I grinned—and I thought I had such a winning personality.

  As he walked off, I grew even more curious about the heated phone call I’d overheard. If it wasn’t anything that important, why would Tobey dodge it? It seemed neither the Senator nor Helen was easy to get along with these days. I looked at my watch. There was just enough time to get back to my parent’s house, write up some of my notes before I forgot, and take a shower before meeting Katy. I wasn’t physically dirty, but after being with Tom Daniels for a while, I sure felt dirty. And, my heels were killing my feet. I also needed to call Trevor and ask him a few other questions. I wanted to fill him in on how the interview had gone and see when he needed this article.

  Almost to my car in the parking lot, I felt like someone was watching me. I glanced back over my shoulder and saw the security guy, Simon, staring at me through the window. As quickly as I saw him, he was gone. Why was he watching me? Or was he? I shrugged it off; it must have been my imagination. I was really curious about what the Senator might be hiding and even more excited about seeing Cooper again. I couldn’t wait to talk to Katy about it.

  Chapter 5I walked into La Casa a few minutes after seven, my heels making those annoying tapping sounds on the worn linoleum. The sound bothered me, but not so much that I would ever stop wearing heels. It was just one of those things a person had to live with to be fashionable. Not that Alkon stood on ceremony, but I had an image to uphold. After the interview, I put on black jersey trousers and a belted red silk shirt with enough buttons undone to show a hint of cleavage, but not enough to say “here I am, take me.” Considered casual in the city at most places, I was a bit overdressed for the nightlife in Alkon. However, the outfit gave me the chance to wear my “hooker shoes,” as I liked to call them, so I could live with being overdressed. Black patent leather, three-inch heels, with the toe cut so that my pedicured toes could peek through. Very sexy. I felt shoes made the outfit, and although I didn’t really have anyone to impress, nor did I expect to meet my next Mr. Right at the diner, it wouldn’t do to not be prepared, just in case.

  Katy was already sitting down in what, back in the day, we liked to call our booth—the one in the back corner that afforded us a view of everyone who came and went. We would sit there with sodas and fries gossiping about everyone who came through the door. Now we had graduated to margaritas and, well, more margaritas and gossip. Some things didn’t change. What more did a girl need? Katy had two frosty margaritas sitting in front of her. I couldn’t wait for that first cold sip.

  “Those better not both be for you,” I said jokingly, sliding into the red vinyl-covered booth that accented the faux chrome-topped tables.

  “They would have been if you hadn’t shown up. It’s against my religion to waste a perfectly good margarita,” Katy replied playfully. “These are too good to waste.”

  Looking around the diner brought back good and bad memories. I felt like I had never left; it was a nice feeling. The garish red and black 1950s-era décor with pink and blue neon accents were still the same. However, what used to be tacky and old was now cool and retro without trying. People would pay a fortune for this look back in the city, and it wouldn’t be nearly as authentic. It was proof that everything really does go full circle.

  “Remember this, do you? We made some great memories here. Though I’m surprised you remember since it has been so long since you’ve been back home,” Katy teased.

  “I know, I know. I hear it enough from my mother, so I will say it again: I am sorry I don’t come in from the city more. With my new job, I am vowing to change. By the way, that color looks good on you,” I said commenting on Katy’s top, a cute turquoise wrap-shirt, the kind that looked great when you had boobs to pull it off and weren’t shy about the amount of cleavage you showed. Plus, that shade of blue complimented her honey blond hair and looked good on her.

  “Thanks. I got it at Target.” It wasn’t the first place I would think to shop, but I admit I have purchased clothes from their Mossimo collection on occasion. They had some cute stuff, especially in the casual realm, and their prices were awesome. “So, tell me about your new job and what happened to your old one. I thought you loved that job.”

  “I thought I did too, but things change. I had been unhappy for a while, but it took my boss coming on to me one too many times to make me realize I didn’t need to put up with it and that it was time to move on. I was caught up in something that I had pursued for so long and was in a rut.”

  “What are your plans now? You mentioned briefly some writing thing, and I know that’s why you’re here, but fill me in.”

  After giving the server our order and digging into the chips and salsa she left on the table to complement and soak up the margaritas, I filled Katy in on my job change, my mother’s antics last night at dinner, and the whole Brian situation.

  “You know, your mother just cares.” Katy had always felt I should be more tolerant of my mother’s interfering. Katy’s mom ran out on her family when she was ten, and she grew up wishing she had a mom. She often sought out my mother as a surrogate, which I had loved. It took the pressure off me at times. While I could understand Katy’s thinking and sympathized with my mother, it still sometimes drove me crazy that Katy seemed to like to be the voice of reason on my mother’s behalf—especially when I wanted to complain about my mother. I knew I was lucky to have two loving parents, but a girl still had a right to complain. What fun was life without something to bitch about?

  “Do I really look that desperate? What’s so wrong with being single?” I asked.

  “She just wants you to be happy, Presley. And your mother thinks this is how she can help.”

  “But I am happy being single. I mean yes I would love to have my Prince Charming ride up on his white horse and rescue me, but I am a confident woman, most of the time, and I am ok being self-sufficient. Sometimes being self-sufficient is even better than having a man.” Katy laughed at that. “At first, I was so ti
cked. I couldn’t believe she did that. But I was nice to Brian because, after all, it isn’t Brian’s fault that my mom is a nut job. I will even admit it didn’t turn out too bad, at first. Brian and I were having some nice conversation at my parents’, catching up on old times, so we decided to go to the Coffee Café. Sadly, it was all downhill after that,” I said, shaking my head and taking a drink of my margarita.

  “Why? What happened?” Katy asked, taking a big sip of her own drink.

  “Not much. He just professed his undying love for me. I blew him off. He was pissed and left me there without a ride home. Nothing like being stranded my first day back.”

  Katy started laughing. “I know you probably didn’t find it funny yesterday as it was happening, but you gotta admit, Presley, it’s funny. You haven’t seen Brian in years, and within hours, you two are acting out the same roles you played in high school. Though I do find it strange that he said he still loved you and all that. I thought he had a girlfriend. I must be thinking of someone else or maybe his girlfriend is old news. I don’t run into Brian often and so much of what I hear is gossip. Speaking of gossip, I also heard a rumor that Brian was involved in something illegal in his shop. Maybe he has all sorts of clandestine things going on. You should hook up with him and find out for us if the gossip is true.” Katy waggled her eyebrows at me suggestively.

  I was still mad at Brian and the situation itself because it was embarrassing, but I did have to admit it was funny, as was Katy’s suggestion, and I chuckled in spite of myself. “I just don’t know what is wrong with me. I mean I’m not so bad. How is it I can’t find a decent guy?”

  “I like to think that the really good ones are just hard to find and that you have to have some fun weeding through the not-so-good ones. I think sometimes we try too hard. That’s what the ladies at the salon always tell me. They tell me that the minute I quit looking for Mr. Right he will come along.” Katy was trying to cheer me up, but was also trying to believe some of that wisdom herself. She had such a bad habit of picking the wrong men, and then being stupid and gullible and staying with them way too long.

  I know that’s probably true, Katy. It’s just depressing sometimes to think I might either be alone or worse, keep hooking up with losers.”

  “Don’t think like that.”

  “Okay, okay. No more negative thoughts. I was excited that I also ran into Dirt Robinson last night; it was so fun to see him again. He gave me a ride home after I got dumped by Brian. I can’t believe he’s an officer of the law now. That’s sure not where I would have expected him to land career wise, but last night, he really saved the day. Remember when…”

  “Speaking of which…” Katy nodded to someone over my shoulder with a big smile on her face, interrupting me.

  “Are you ladies talking about me?” Dirt asked as he slid into the booth next to Katy, putting his arm around her and squeezing it in the comfortable way old friends have. “Why is it I’m always the topic of conversation with pretty girls? Ladies, ladies, I know I am irresistible, but you really have to learn to control yourselves. Not everyone can have all this,” Dirt said motioning to himself.

  “Don’t let it go to your head, cowboy,” I said dryly. “I was just telling Katy how you took me home last night. Oh, and how it was such a struggle to not attack you,” I said perpetuating his fantasy for fun. I enjoyed this easy banter.

  “That’s me, sweetheart. Always rescuing damsels in distress, just one of my many talents,” Dirt said in an exaggerated drawl.

  “So, how’s my favorite cop?” Katy said, giving him a kiss on the cheek. “Presley here was just telling me how she was surprised to see you on this side of the law.”

  “Wait a minute, stop kissing,” I teased. “Isn’t it against the law to give favors to the police?”

  “I’ll take anything I can get!” Dirt laughed. “Besides, I’m not in uniform, so it doesn’t count.”

  I noticed he was blushing. Hmmm, I wondered if he still had the same huge crush on Katy that he did in high school. Wouldn’t that be something? I admitted he looked even better tonight in regular clothes. A plain grey t-shirt under a light blue oxford and faded jeans gave him a more relaxed look, and it suited him. There was definitely a difference in his demeanor and it was good.

  “So, what are you two doing here?”

  “Isn’t it obvious?” I pointed to my now half-empty margarita and motioned the server over. “Can we get two more of these? And what did you want, Dirt?”

  “Just a Coke, please,” he said to the server. “I have to go into work a little later, so no drinking for me. At least, not tonight anyways,” he joked. “I just saw your car in the lot and thought I would stop by and see how your interview with our esteemed Senator went.”

  “You called it last night. He was the egotistical jerk you said he was. Makes you wonder what Helen ever saw in him.”

  Katy chimed in. “Maybe she was in it for the power or prestige? It can’t be the money. Who knows with those kinds of people? The few times she has been in town and had no choice but to come to my salon, she was a real bitch. She acted as if she was slumming it by coming to a small town salon instead of some fancy one in D.C. They probably deserve each other.”

  “She should consider herself lucky for you to do her hair,” I said, patting my friend on the arm. “You are much better than anyone she could find in the city. She just doesn’t know what she’s getting and probably likes to act like a bitch because it’s the only way she knows how. Bitchiness has probably been ingrained in her since birth.”

  Katy smiled. “I should have charged her double the price for having to put up with her. It’s not like she can’t afford it.”

  “Maybe you could start charging a surcharge for those high maintenance clients,” I suggested.

  “Wealth is probably what attracted Tom to her in the first place or at least what has kept him with her. She’s attractive, but she sure is a bitch. But some men seem to like mean, bitchy women,” Katy remarked. “Though I have to admit, I am jealous sometimes. That woman has more Louis Vuitton bags than Saks.”

  “That’s my kind of woman. Maybe she isn’t so bad after all. At least you can’t say she doesn’t have taste,” I said.

  “And Tom uses her wealth to pay off those who don’t like his attitude toward women. It’s a surprise that there haven’t been any scandals in the paper,” Dirt said, ignoring our admiration of her accessories. Shame he didn’t appreciate the finer things, I thought, like designer purses. What a great discussion they could all have. I smiled at the thought of it.

  “It does seem odd that nothing has ever made it into the paper. Usually that kind of juicy gossip makes the front page of the supermarket rags,” I said. “People live for that kind of thing.”

  “Like I said, money buys silence. Money can buy anything if you have enough of it.” Didn’t he know it. Money could buy you into trouble too, if you weren’t careful.

  “I’m just glad I only had to spend a short time with him. He didn’t do anything overt, but he made me feel a little uncomfortable.”

  “I bet he wished it was longer.” Katy laughed.

  “Here’s something interesting though…I had to wait outside his office while he was on the phone and could hear some of what he was saying. He was arguing with someone, and it was pretty intense, something to the effect of owing somebody money. He seemed really ticked that this person, I am pretty sure the Senator called him Peter, contacted him.”

  “Really?” Dirt seemed interested at this piece of news. “Did you catch anything else?”

  “Ummm, no. Why?”

  “There have been rumors that he is involved with some people he shouldn’t be. If you believe what people are saying, he has a bit of a gambling problem.”

  “Seriously? I could see him being caught with someone’s wife. Why would he gamble? It’s not as if he needs the money.”

  “Gambling isn’t always about money,” Katy said. “It’s about the thrill.” Dirt a
nd I both looked at her in surprise. “What? That’s just what I’ve heard. I read People magazine. Many of the stars have had gambling problems, and they sure don’t need the money. It’s not as if I have personal experience with the matter. Don’t you guys ever read People or OK Magazine? It’s not an uncommon problem,” she said, rolling her eyes.

  “Like I said, it’s all gossip. But he spends a lot of time in Vegas. I believe that he and Helen have a condo there, so who knows,” Dirt said.

  “Whoever that Peter guy was, the Senator seemed really mad at him, at least from the side of the conversation I could hear. Since he mentioned owing money, gambling could be a possibility. Even if it’s not really the case, it is fun to think about,” I mused thoughtfully. All of a sudden Dirt’s expression changed to one I couldn’t read. He was looking past my shoulder at something or someone he didn’t like. His eyes turned cold and his lips pressed tightly together. I turned around in my seat to see what was so distasteful.

  “Eavesdropping on someone’s conversation is not polite,” Cooper whispered softly in my ear, lips barely touching, as he walked up behind me. He ran his hand down the back of my neck to the middle of my back and I shivered involuntarily. His touch sent a jolt of electricity to my secret spot, a spot I wasn’t sure I wanted to keep a secret from him, especially when it had been a deep, dark secret for way too long. Against my better judgment, I just wanted to close my eyes and let him continue while I enjoyed his touch. Damn him for sneaking up on me.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked.

  Cooper enjoyed watching Presley act as though him touching her was not a big deal; he knew better. He was no longer upset with her about earlier in the day. “Hey, Chris.” I nodded to Chris Stone, another old friend, who was with Cooper. He and Cooper had been friends in high school and had come into the diner together.